Brad Smith Canada: Up Close And Personal With Canada's Bachelor

By now you've heard that the reality TV franchise, The Bachelor, is heading north this fall with a fully Canuck cast in The Bachelor Canada. With the irresistibly charming and ridiculously handsome former CFL player, Brad Smith, at the helm, we have no doubt this first season will be hot.

Citytv has revealed the identity of five of the lucky bachelorettes vying to win Brad's heart and that coveted final rose. The bachelorettes hail from Vancouver to New Brunswick, and have professions as diverse as a pastor and a Playboy model.

You'll have to wait until Wednesday, October 3 (9 p.m. ET/PT on Citytyv) to watch Brad begin his journey as Canada's most eligible bachelor. In the meantime, find out what led the self-described "responsibly immature" Brad to find love on television and what he really means when he says he's looking for a "low-maintenance" woman.

2: Why did you want to audition for The Bachelor Canada?

Brad Smith: "I didn't, actually. They found me. My best friend's girlfriend is best friends with the casting director and they passed my name along to her. I was in Barbados with my family and I got an email from her and she said, 'Hi, this is Heather Muir for Bachelor Canada. Just wanted to talk to you because one of your friends passed along your name...' I thought, 'Yeah, good joke.' And then I called her back and that's how it started. It didn't take any convincing to audition."

2: Were you shocked when you found out that you were chosen to be Canada's first Bachelor?

Brad: "Oh yeah! I called my mom and she was like, 'Who the hell did you fool?!' I was completely put back."

2: How did your friends and the rest of your family react when you told them you were going to be Canada's most eligible bachelor?

Brad: "I think the same way that my mom reacted. They were like, 'Really? Smitty?' and I was like, 'Yep!' They were very supportive. Everyone was very excited. By the time they asked the questions about why I wanted to do it and was I ready and by the time that they knew that I was really serious about this, they were like any other people in your life -- just 100% behind me."

2: How did you prepare for your journey on The Bachelor Canada?

Brad: "A couple of days beforehand, you're really sitting back and you're really being reflective about what I need to make myself happy and what characteristics and qualities you're looking for. But then you get on the show you're like, 'Oh my god.' It's so much information to handle and you're just trying to make your best guess of how to control the chaos that's happening around you. For me, it was really important to know that I had sat down and had a list of things that were really important for me to look for and not just get enamored by what was happening around me and how good-looking people were. I didn't want to go in there and be like, 'Oh, she's hot' and that be the sole basis of my decision."

2: Was there one thing that you were really nervous about leading up to the show?

Brad: "Before we started shooting, we'd have production meetings and they were saying 'You can do this, Brad! Just be yourself,' and I was like, 'Yeah, no, I'm gonna kill this. I don't get nervous!' And then the first limo pulls up and I'm pretty sure I was having stage 3 of angina -- just KO'ed in the middle of the driveway. I got immediately nervous. So, it was an intense feeling knowing that that door is going to open 25 times and I hope one girl doesn't stand up and look at me and go, 'Really? This guy?!' and get back in the limo, saying 'To the airport, please, sir!'"

2: Did you get more comfortable in front of the cameras as the show went on?

Brad: "After the first night, when you're thrown into the piranha bowl, everything after that was gravy. I was looking back at clips from the first night and I was like, 'I don't remember any of this!' You're getting pulled in this direction, this direction and you have five minutes here, two minutes here. I went into this hoping I could succeed from this knowing that I know myself 100%. After the whole thing was done, I really felt like I lived up to that and put out there 100% of who I was, rather than be what someone else was trying to make me. There was a constant reassurance from the cast and crew that you're never going to do wrong by being who you are."

2: What qualities do you look for in a woman?

Brad: "It's that compatibility factor. When I say that I'm looking for a low-maintenance woman, I mean that in the best way possible. I don't care if it takes you forty years to get ready. I mean, like, if I take you on the worst date ever to a petting zoo in Nebraska, as long as you look at me at the end of it and go, 'Ok, that was the worst date ever, but I'm glad we did it together. Just promise me you'll never do it again!' But you're not mad at the situation or get easily frustrated. No drama -- that's all I care about. You have to be physically attracted to someone, but they have to have substance. You can be as good looking as you want, but if you can't sit there and have conversation or have a great time together, then you're up a creek without a paddle."

2: What's your idea of a perfect date night?

Brad: "A Montreal Canadiens hockey game with some beer and hot dogs!"

2: And potato chips?

Brad: "Oh yeah! Anything... you don't understand. I said to the girls, 'Ok, if you can accept that after we get off the show this is not what I'm going to look like. That I will be smashing Wendy's every day.' Which is funny because as soon as it wrapped the first thing I did was go to Wendy's and have like, four Southwest Chickens. I started the show at 180lbs and now I'm at like, 195lbs. I was just at a photo shoot today and I was like, 'Holy sh*t! I've lost everything that made me look good in the first place!'"